smile was kind too.
After shaking her hand, he placed his on the small of Rose’s back. A pulse rushed through Reen. As much as she could pretend that she had been around the country, having the time of her life with whomever she wanted, all she had really done was hide. She’d had a few one-night stands, but she didn’t allow herself to fall into a long-term trap with anyone. She knew what happened when she opened her heart.
Rose bumped against Shane and her lips curved. Their faces lit up, and Reen looked away as if she’d been staring at the sun. At least someone in their family was happy.
‘Reen isn’t staying for dinner tonight,’ Rose told Shane.
Shane jutted his lip out and nodded. ‘I’m making lasagna, but I can make something different if you’d like.’
Reen barely heard him as the rush of her heartbeat filled her ears. Rose was trying a different tactic by putting her on the spot with Shane. Reen wouldn’t falter. ‘I have an early flight in the morning.’
Shane and Rose shared a look but didn’t push.
‘We should get going,’ Rose said, and kissed Shane.
Reen’s chin tipped downward as she witnessed an intimate moment between Shane and her sister. She turned and walked toward her car. ‘I’m headed out. I have the address for the nursing home on my phone.’
‘I’m right behind you,’ Rose said.
On the way to the nursing home, Reen took the path of least resistance, the same as she had when she first drove into town. She wasn’t interested in a nostalgic drive through the streets. Instead, she kept to the coastline. She wanted to be closer to the water. In her brief time in The Burrow, she wasn’t going to miss the opportunity.
After Rose had given Mom up to the Whinding House, Reen had researched the facility. It seemed nice enough, but it wasn’t home. Mom belonged by the ocean. It was something Rose hadn’t understood for a long time. When Rose was eleven, she sleepwalked into the water and had refused to go near it since. Reen had tried her hardest to convince her sister it wasn’t a big deal, understanding that Rose used to feel the same way about it as she and Mom did. But it was no use for her big sister. The water continued to draw Reen and Mom to it as if it was their true home.
Reen pulled into the parking lot at the facility and sat in the rental car, keeping the air conditioning on while waiting for Rose. She could easily walk through the doors and find Mom, but she wanted to wait for her sister. Navigating her way through unrecognizable halls would only show how much she didn’t belong.
Reen checked her phone. There were several unanswered texts from friends, the ones she’d kept at arm’s length throughout her journeys, avoiding her past. There was a text from her boss, Jeremy, the owner of the convenience store she currently worked at, asking how long her sudden vacation would take. Considering she had two weeks off saved up, she wondered what he was on about. In the months she’d worked there, she’d far surpassed her sluggish co-workers. She knew he’d ask her to be a manager, and she’d already thought of several excuses and mapped out her escape route from town once she got the offer.
It was the same everywhere she went. While keeping her head in the sand, having no husband or children, she was a commodity to her employers. Little did they know that she had a bigger path in mind. Avoidance. At all costs. Them wanting her only pushed her away.
A text came in from Darin, and her heart fluttered. ‘Let me know when you need a ride from the airport.’
Reen smirked. She understood the innuendo and her legs quivered. Darin, the twenty-five-year-old drummer with dreams of making it in the music industry, had been a more recent casual fling. She wouldn’t say they were in a relationship, but he adored her. He wrote songs about her and wanted her to come to all his shows. Some nights, he helped her avoid her past with mind-blowing sex. It gave her the out she wanted whenever she needed it.
Rose’s car pulled alongside Reen, breaking her from her thoughts. She turned off the rental and stepped out of the car.
The hot, sticky air clung to her skin as she walked over to Rose. Rose had pulled her hair from her face in a messy bun at the top of her head. From what Reen recalled, Rose rarely styled it any other way but down. She supposed slight changes were normal; she couldn’t expect the world to stop turning in her absence. Maybe Shane was right for her sister. At least, he was a change. In this place, anything new was hard to come by.
‘The Cottage is over here,’ Rose said, pointing at the smaller building on the other side of the lot. ‘The bigger building is for assisted living only. Those who don’t have memory issues.’
Reen nodded, already knowing all of this. Rose had no idea how much Reen cared. She liked to appear aloof, keeping a distance between herself and home. If Rose knew Reen was more invested than she let on, then her sister would push harder to make her stay.
Reen looked around the property, wrinkling her nose. Several residents milled toward a garden patch around the side of the building. Lush plants with vegetables and flowers appeared to thrive there.
It seemed like an all right place, though Reen would make her judgments when she got inside. Over the phone, Rose had said Mom wasn’t doing so well. It was probably because she lived in some germ-infested nursing home. Of course, she’d catch something. In Mom’s delicate condition, it would be impossible not to. Another reason Rose should have kept her home. At least she’d be by the water and living in a place she recognized.
Inside The Cottage, Reen stepped into a small foyer. There wasn’t much furniture besides a couple of folding chairs near the front window next to a water bubbler. Decorations were scarce, other than two vases of flowers on either side of the main desk and a few paintings on the walls. Even the sweet scent didn’t take away from the overpowering antiseptic smell.
‘Good morning, Rose,’ said the teenage girl sitting behind the desk.
Rose smiled. ‘Hi, Cassandra.’
At least she hadn’t been lying about coming to visit Mom.
Cassandra glanced at Reen and sat up.
‘This is my sister. Reen,’ Rose said. ‘She’s here visiting Mom too.’
The young girl pursed her lips. ‘If you could both sign in.’
Rose finished signing her name in the binder on the desk. Ever the people pleaser.
‘How is it having your sister home from college?’ Rose asked the girl.
Cassandra rolled her eyes. ‘You know she’s the only reason I got the job here this summer. I can’t wait to have my own space back.’
Rose laughed.
Reen scribbled her name and moved to the side, tapping the edge of the pen against the paper. She had no intention of chatting with this girl all day. All she wanted was to see Mom and gather her thoughts about the diagnosis. Reen clasped her hands, rubbing them together as she fought a chill. Memories from her youth flooded her mind, and she could barely stop her hands from trembling.
‘I’m sure by the end of the summer you’ll be close again,’ Rose went on.
‘Doubt
